Locals claim that the most traditional houses in Greece are stone houses. The stones keep the houses cool in the summer and warm in the winter. When public hygiene became a concern, residents added a layer over the stones and painted the walls or stones with calcium hydroxide or called limewater. It is a very affordable way to keep the environment sanitized. The color white reflects heats in the summer as well. The little whitewash square boxes haphazardly built become an iconic landscape as part of Greek cultural identity.